Propeller



1941- D. CALVO-MACKENNA 2,258,699

PROPELLER Filed Feb. 9, 1940 Patented Get. 14, 1941 lTED s'r'rks NTOFFICE PROPELLER Domingo CaIVo Mackenna, Santiago, omle ApplicationFebruary 9, 1 40, Serial- N0. 318,145

(on. na -4'9) to a cause whatever, the water level in the chamber rises.

Fig. l is a side elevation, the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front sectional elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view of the invention as applied to a ship.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of a device used to maintain the waterlevel.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of 'a detail of construction.

Description the various organs (0.) PropelZers.'Ihe propeller I haveinvented essentially consists of a system of twin mainwheels which bearfive or more rectangularshaped planes or paddles.

The main feature of these paddles is the circumstance that they remainin vertical position during their whole turning. They are indicated in 4onthe Figs. 1 and 2 and are fixed, in their vertical ends, ongear-wheels moved by the gear wheels 6 which we shall call stabilizingwheels and which serve to maintain the vertical position of the paddles.The wheels 6 are fastened on the main-shaft 1, this being directly movedby the ships engine.

Wheels 5 which wear the paddles, are mounted on main wheels 8 by meansof turning axles forming a single body with the wheels 5 and can freely.rotate within holes bored in the rings of the main-wheels 8.

Wheels 8 rotate on the shaft 1 without adhering to it and are joined, inthe opposite side of wheels 6, with the toothed-wheels M, constituting asingle body with them.

Wheels i rotate on shaft 7 without adhering to it and are moved bywheels I l whose diameter is the same, fastened on shaft l2 and forminga single body with the wheels I3 fixed on the same shaft. These wheelsl3 have their movement from toothed-wheels Ill fastened on themainshaft, this being moved by the ships engine.

Thus, the main-shaft transmits its movement partly in section, of

directly to the stabilizing-wheels 6 and to the gear-wheels l0 due thatit forms a single body with them, and indirectly to the main-wheels 8 bymeans of the gear w'heels I0, I3, II and I4-.

The diameter of wheels l3 and ID are different and inverselyproportional to the speed of wheels 5 and 8. These speeds are determinedas follows:

Let us call 'V the speed of wheel 6 Let us call 1) the speed of wheel '87 Let us call R theradius of wheel 6 Let us call r the radius of wheel 5The relation between both speeds is deduced from the following formulas:

VR Iifl R+1- V R In the case of the machine illustrated on the drawing,assuming that V is equivalent to two turns per second:

Therefore, the speed of wheel 8 in this case, if we assume that motorshaft 1 and wheel 6 1'0- tate at the rate of two turns per second, willbe equivalent to 1.54 turns per second.

Also, the diameter of wheels I3 shall be of th diameter of wheels H].

In order to avoid that floating bodies may penetrate in the gearings, aprotection l5 has been developed and which covers all thegearing'exposed to th water and which is represented in Figs. 1 and 2. I

Circular plates lfia, cover the arms of wheel 8 and 8 on their externalface (Fig. l).

Ring-formed plates I6 laterally protect the cogs of wheels 5 and 6(Figs. 1, 2 and 5).

The teeth of the stabilizing wheels 5 and 6 and their protection platesl6 will be made of inoxidable steel or any other similar material.

The main-wheels will rotate on shaft 1 by means of appropriate rollers.

The spindles of the main-wheels B will cross the walls 2 of chambers Ithrough friction-boxes not shown in the drawing.

It must be once more remarked that wheels 5 and 6 only play the part ofstabilizing-wheels, in order to maintain the paddles in verticalposition, and that wheels 8, though rotating freely upon the main-shaft,are actually the propellerwheels.

This propeller-work may or not be placed inside of compressedair-chambers, considering whether it will be used in sea-ships or inriver or lakeships, In the first case, a propeller system will ='1.54turns per second be placed on each side of the ship, as indicated inFig. 3, near and toward the main section. In the second case, a singlesystem, situated in the back of the ship, will do.

(b) The compressed-air chamber.-This airchamber is formed by twovertical plates 2 joined by a superior and lateral cover 3. The chamberis open in its inferior part (Figs. 1 and 2).

The chamber are placed in each side of the ship, the closest possible tothe magistral section, that is to say, near the proper ships engine.

The vertical placement will be calculated so that the lowest part of thepaddles in their maximum inferior passage remains at a convenientdistance from the bottom of the ship.

Besides, it will be necessary to consider, for its vertical position,that the inferior portion of the chamber might be at a convenientdistance from the water surface to avoid that, because of rolling of theship, the air in the interior of the chamber may escape. It isunderstood that the chambers will be impermeable to the air but alsopossible to be visible by means of hermetic doors communicating withvisiting-chambers.

The chamber is full of compresed-air, in order to maintain the interiorlevel of the water in it at the convenient height, so that thepropelling elements are in the water only during the propelling periodof the rotation.

The interior water column, whose. objective is to maintain the waterlevel in it, will be subject to change following the chambers dimensionsand it is determined by the effects of the ships pitching and rolling,which we have calculated to be from 10% and 30 respectively.

(0) Device for injecting the compressed-air.- The water level in thechamber, which is maintained by the interior column may rise, due tolosses of the compressed-air, caused by rolling and pitching, whirlmovements of the water and the air-dragging clue to the action of thepropellers.

With the purpose of maintaining invariable the said level, we havedeveloped a little chamber I! which communicates by its superior and itsinferior portion with the principal chamber I (Fig. 4).

This little chamber has a floating device l8 which actuates a rod I9.This rod, in its turn, opens the cock of a compressed-air tank 2! which,by means of a pipe 22, communicates this tank with the propellerschamber and lets the lost air be immediately replaced. Inversely, thecock will be closed by the descent of the floating device.

In order to prevent that instantaneous oscillation of the water level,caused by sudden movements of the ship, without real escape of air,provoke an useless injection of air, between the rod l9 and the cook 20,an air-shock absorber will be placed as to compensate theseoscillations.

Having now described the nature of my invention and the means to realisethe same, I declare that what I claim as my invention is:

1. A ship propeller comprising, a driven shaft, two similar axiallyaligned wheels, a transmission connecting said shaft and said wheels fordriving the latter as a unit, paddles mounted for pivotal movementbetween said wheels but bodily movable thereby, a gear wheel attached ateach end of each paddle for movement therewith, and two gears keyed tosaid shaft for unitary movement therewith, one of said gears engagingall of the gear wheels on one end of the paddles and the other gearengaging all of the gear wheels on the other end of the paddles, saidgears serving to maintain each paddle in vertical position with respectto the surface of the water in which the propeller operates while thewheels bodily move the same for driving the ship.

2. A ship propeller comprising, a driven shaft, two similar axiallyaligned wheels, a transmission connecting said shaft and said wheels fordriving the latter as a unit, paddles mounted for pivotal movementbetween said wheels but bodily movable thereby, a gear wheel attached ateach end of each paddle for movement therewith, two gears keyed to saidshaft for unitary movement therewith, one of said gears engaging all ofthe gear wheels on one end of the paddles and the other gear engagingall of the gear wheels on the other end of the paddles, said gearsserving to maintain each paddle in vertical position with respect to thesurface of the water in which the propeller operates while the wheelsbodily move the same for driving the ship, and a housing for saidpaddles open to water, said transmission being located exteriorly of thesame in protected position.

3. A ship propeller comprising, a driven shaft, two similar axiallyaligned wheels, a transmission connecting said shaft and said wheels fordriving the latter as a unit, six paddles mounted for pivotal movementbetween said wheels but bodily movable thereby, a gear wheel attached ateach end of each paddle for movement therewith, the diameter of eachgear Wheel being substantially equal to the width of the paddle to whichit is attached, and two gears keyed to said shaft for unitary movementtherewith, one of said gears engaging all of the gear wheels on one endof the paddles and the other gear engaging all of the gear wheels on theother end of the paddles, said gears serving to maintain each paddle invertical position with respect to the surface of the water in which thepropeller operates while the wheels bodily move the same for driving theship.

4. A ship propeller comprising, a driven shaft, two similar axiallyaligned wheels, a transmission connecting said shaft and said wheels fordriving the latter as a unit, paddles mounted for pivotal movementbetween said wheels but bodily movable thereby, a gear wheel attached ateach end of each paddle for movement therewith, two gears keyed to saidshaft for unitary movement therewith, one of said gears engaging all ofthe gear wheels on one end of the paddles and the other gear engagingall of the gear wheels on the other end of the paddles, said gearsserving to maintain each paddle in vertical position with respect to thesurface of the water in which the propeller operates While the wheelsbodily move the same for driving the ship, a housing for said paddlesopen to water, and means for maintaining a constant water level withinsaid housing.

DOMINGO CALVO-MACKENNA.

